On November 20, 2005, the Lakers hosted the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls came into the game with a 3-5 record. Their start to the new season had not been particularly good, but historically, they would make the playoffs that season. While they benefited from the "Eastern Conference" advantage, they were by no means a bottom-feeding team.
What was more, the Los Angeles Lakers were not a strong team at the moment. Their 7-2 record was mainly because they had yet to face any truly elite teams—the top four teams in the Eastern and Western Conference powerhouses.
Incidentally, Lamar Odom's wife, "Khloe Kardashian," would be attending tonight's game with her Kardashian sisters.
Members of the Kardashian Family:
Eldest sister: Kourtney Kardashian.
Second sister: Kim Kardashian.
Third sister: Khloe Kardashian.
Youngest sister: Kendall Jenner, the daughter Kardashian mother "Kristin" had in her second marriage.
The youngest, Jenner, had been born in 1995 and was only ten years old.
Yet the way she dressed was far more mature than that of her peers, and her figure was also more developed than most girls her age.
The women of the Kardashian Family were all social butterflies, warmly greeting the Lakers players.
Even Zhou Ze, whom they had never met before.
Kardashian's youngest sister, Jenner, looked at Zhou Ze with an admiring expression and asked him to sign the front of her white T-shirt.
"Zhou, can you sign my shirt? I swear, I'll never wash your signature off for the rest of my life." Jenner, whose eyes still held a trace of innocence, looked at Zhou Ze hopefully.
"Sure." Zhou Ze signed his name over the area corresponding to Jenner's stomach.
In tonight's game, Bulls guard Chris Duhon displayed an outstanding touch from three-point range.
Before the first official timeout of the opening quarter, he went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc without a miss, scoring 9 points along with 2 assists.
Kirk Hinrich also hit a three-pointer, posting 3 points and 1 assist.
The Lakers, meanwhile, had gone cold. Other than Zhou Ze making one three, the rest of the team had clanked all four of their attempts from deep.
Relying on Kobe's mid-range shots and drives to the basket, the Lakers temporarily trailed by 7 points.
15:9.
After returning to the bench, Zen Master Phil Jackson told the players that when they went back in, their defense needed to extend beyond the three-point line to disrupt the Bulls' shooting rhythm.
The timeout ended.
15:11. Kobe used a crossover to shake white guard Kirk Hinrich, beating him by half a step. For a full-sized guard like Kobe, he did not need to get completely past his defender. He suddenly exploded during the drive, bumping the defender aside, then faced Tyson Chandler, who excelled at help defense and rim protection. Kobe spun, shifting Chandler's balance to one side before finishing with a finger roll.
The Lakers fans in the arena applauded, with some particularly excited ones shouting in approval.
The Kardashian sisters in the back row behind the Lakers bench also rose from their seats like a bunch of drama queens, swaying their curvaceous bodies.
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However, one person's reaction greatly dampened Kobe's mood.
"I finally got position... and you don't brick it when you're supposed to." As Kobe passed by Zhou Ze, he heard him mutter.
Kobe immediately shot Zhou Ze a murderous glare.
Kirk Hinrich and Tyson Chandler ran a high pick-and-roll. Smush Parker got caught on the screen, and Hinrich drove toward the screening side with the ball, drawing Kwame Brown into a switch.
Tyson Chandler quickly rolled to the basket. The young Chandler, known as the Boxing King, had good mobility and rolled fast. Smush Parker, who had been caught on the screen a moment ago, failed to recover in time. Zhou Ze came over to help, cutting Chandler off and bracing himself behind him.
"Pass it!" Chandler decisively called for the ball. Though it was only a minor mismatch, his opponent was a rookie—he should be easy to bully, right? After receiving the pass, Chandler chose to back him down hard. Although Zhou Ze was pushed back half a step, Chandler still had not reached his sweet spot. With the three-second violation looming, he forced up a hook shot.
After the miss, Zhou Ze did not jump immediately. Instead, he stuck out his butt and boxed Chandler out behind him. The rebound dropped right in front of Zhou Ze. After securing it, he passed to the nearest Lamar Odom and then sprinted downcourt.
With guard-like speed, he raced ahead alone and charged straight toward the basket. Not a single Bulls player on the court could match up with Zhou Ze.
Those faster than him were not as tall.
Those taller than him were not as fast.
Boom! Zhou Ze pointed at the rim, and Lamar Odom immediately understood. He lofted a high pass, and Zhou Ze, his body arching through the air, caught it with both hands before hammering it down with force.
After completing the alley-oop dunk, Odom was even more excited than Zhou Ze, and he did not forget to roar at the air twice.
Zhou Ze's defense was not particularly good, but from his one-on-one battles with Kobe, he had learned not to jump easily. That made blue-collar big man Chandler uncomfortable as hell.
That play ignited the Lakers' home crowd and once again boosted the team's morale.
The Lakers' defensive intensity rose accordingly. Over the next several possessions, the Bulls' offense visibly began to struggle.
With the Ball-Handling Steal Master and his quicker hands, Zhou Ze completed a passing-lane steal during another Bulls high pick-and-roll. Zhou Ze picked off Hinrich's bounce pass to Tyson Chandler.
After the steal, the Lakers quickly launched a fast break. The Bulls guarded Smush Parker closely, making it difficult for him to build up speed, but the Lakers still had their left-handed Magic. Odom pushed the ball upcourt and once again found Zhou Ze, who had taken off first.
The pass was obviously a little too high. Seeing it, Vujacic on the bench revealed a hint of schadenfreude and muttered, "How's he supposed to catch that?"
But Zhou Ze seemed to take off a second time in midair. He had originally been chest-to-face with Andres Nocioni, but the instant he caught the ball, his navel was practically level with Nocioni's face.
His head was nearly level with the rim. Boom! He viciously slammed the basketball through with both hands.
20:24. The Los Angeles Lakers, who had been down by six before the timeout, had now taken the lead.
From the Lakers' bench, a faint voice drifted into Vujacic's ears. "Did you think Zhou was you...?"
Vujacic turned around and found Jenner, the youngest of the Kardashian Family, pouting as she glared at him in displeasure.
Vujacic's face reddened. That little girl had heard his earlier snide remark.
The Chicago Bulls called a timeout.
Lamar Odom, who had made the assist, danced excitedly around the court. But when he saw Zhou Ze's expressionless face, he could not help asking curiously, "Zhou, why aren't you excited? You've completed two alley-oop dunks this quarter!!!"
Zhou Ze moved his lips.
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